CalArts MFA graduate (Film/Video MFA 04) and adjunct professor David Fenster’s new film Pincus world premiered at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival on Saturday night. Written, shot and edited by Fenster in the past year-and-a-half, the film stars David Nordstrom (Film/Video MFA 05) as Fenster’s alter-ego, a young man in searching of meaning and authenticity in his life, and Paul Fenster, the filmmaker’s father.
“The idea for the film,” says Fenster, “occurred to me while I was back home in Miami on a year-long visit to help my mom care for my father, who’s been living with Parkinson’s for the past 13 years. I had been writing some narrative fiction, and while in Miami, I began making informal tapes of conversations with my father.” Some of that documentary footage ended up in the completed film, and Fenster, senior, also did some acting in the piece. During his stay in South Florida, Fenster enrolled in a yoga class, “mostly to meet girls,” he says, which led to some deeper exploration of New Age philosophies that, in turn, shifted his perspective on life itself. In Artillery magazine, Doug Harvey writes:
Beautifully shot by Fenster, and minimally but exquisitely scored by John Wood, the deadpan episodic storyline thrums with a formalist glow that imbues Pincus’ low-key existential bewilderment with a sense of impending revelation—a promise fulfilled by one of the most satisfyingly anti-climactic denouements ever filmed, which manages to veer Fenster’s improvisational autobiographical naturalism toward a magic realism worthy of Vittorio de Sica’s Miracle in Milan.
In addition to Nordstrom, Fenster’s collaborators include CalArts alumni John Wood (Music BFA 04) and graphic designer Lori Damiano (Film/Video MFA 04), who designed the poster for the film. Fenster’s previous film, Trona (2004), screened at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Pincus will be entered in competition in film festivals around the world.
Pincus (78 mins.)
A film by David Fenster. Starring David Nordstrom, Paul Fenster, Christi Idavoy, and Dietmar Franosch. Directed and Written by David Fenster. Executive Producer Phil Lord. Director of Photography David Fenster. Edited by David Fenster. Music by John Wood.
Los Angeles Film Festival Screenings:
Saturday, June 16, 8:10 pm – Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE – Premiere
Thursday, June 21, 7:40 pm – Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE – Public Screening